A company that leased out the tour bus involved in Sunday's deadly collision near Yucaipa that killed seven people failed 36 percent of its safety inspections in the past two years, according to federal transportation records.

Scapadas Magicas Tours, based in National City near the Mexican border in San Diego County, had 25 of its vehicles inspected in the past two years but only 16 passed inspection - exceeding the national average failure rate of 21 percent, according to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration.

The company fared worse than nearly three-fourths of charter bus companies nationwide in its safety inspections, records show.

The driver of the bus, Norberto Perez of San Ysidro, survived the crash and told authorities the brakes had given out on the bus during its descent from Big Bear Lake, where he had shuttled the 37 passengers and tour guide earlier that day for a skiing trip, according to news reports.

But the CHP did not confirm those reports Monday.

"We know that a lot of passengers and people on scene were making statements that the brakes had gone out and there was smoke coming out from the rear brakes ... but we haven't been able to confirm any of those statements," CHP Officer Cliff Porter said.

The accident occurred about 6:30 p.m. Sunday when the bus sped out of control down Highway 38, rear-ending a Saturn before it toppled onto its side and collided head-on with a Ford pickup, ejecting passengers onto the highway and creating a horrific scene of carnage and wreckage.

Despite the many vehicle safety violations observed and noted during inspections, Scapadas Magicus Tours has had no crashes in the past two years, according to federal transportation records.

Representatives from Scapadas couldn't be reached for comment Monday.

Jordi Garcia, marketing director of the Tijuana-based travel agency Interbus, told U-T San Diego on Monday his company rented the bus from Scapadas. He said the bus departed Tijuana at 5 a.m. Sunday, with the itinerary calling for a return late that night.

He said he spoke briefly with his tour guide, who suffered only bruises in the accident. She told him she heard a loud pop before the crash.

"Everything points to faulty brakes," Garcia said.

Scapadas was also penalized for other infractions in the last couple of years, records show.

An Aug. 29, 2012, inspection found that Scapadas allowed a driver to operate a commercial vehicle on a suspended driver's license. In 2010, the company had to pay a fine of $2,520 for failing to give a driver a drug test before hiring him/her.